Drill pipe joint



Patented Feb. 2s, '1933' 1,899,469

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE HARVEY Macon AND LEE J. BLACK, or BEAUMONT,'rnxAs i DRILL PIPE JOINT i Application led December 17, 1929. SerialNo. 414,748.

This invention relates to means for rein- Figure 3 is an end elevationof the series forcing pipe used in oil wells at the joint f Wedges; u

or coupling, these tool joints being used 1n Referring to the drawing,10 and 11 desmaking up a drill pipe for a rotary coupling. lgnate twoopposed sections of the drill pipe.

5 It is well known that vibration in rotary These sections have theirouter faces at their 55 wel] ,drilling 00u causes the 4drill pipe toadjoining ends beveled toward the inner faces break, usually at the topof the rst thread and screwthreaded as at 12. These screwof a joint. Toovercome this, apractice was threaded ends .of thepipe. sections and 11introduced of upsetting the drill pipe. This are engaged with aninteriorly screw-.thread- 10 upsetting of the drill pipe frequentlycauses ed @Oupllng 13, this Coupllng having its inte- 60 strains whichare not easily detected and furrior face beveled from the middleJ of thecouthermore, the drill stem guide usually breaks p hng outward inopposite directions and inat the end of the upsetportion. teriorlyscrew-threaded so as to engage the Our invention has for one object toscrew-threads 12.- The 'extremities of this strengthen the pipe at thefoot of the threads coupling are counter-bored as at 14 so that 65 nearthe end of the joint collar, doing away the ektremities of the couplingdo not touch with the necessity of upsetting with its atthe pipe.sections 10 and 11. l This off-set portendant evils, forging strains andreduction tion 14 is lnteriorly screw-threaded as at 15 in thecross-sectional area of the bore of the and each off-set portion has a.plurality of 0 pipe. openings 16 formed therethroug To A further objectis to provide reinforcing Adapted to be disposed between the oEsetwedges disposed between the coupling and portions'14 and the pipesections are the the pipe at the root of the threads between wedges 17.Each of these wedges is arcuthe coupling and pipe, the thickness of theate in form and there may be as many of 75 reinforcing wedges and thepipe coupling these wedges as desired. Four wedges for more thandoubling the thickness of the pipe each end of the coupling is shown.These and thus getting ample strength to prevent wedges are taperedtoward one end but are jumping off under vibration, said wedges actnotscrew-threaded. Holding the wedges in ing to hold the pipe against anybuckling place are .the glands 18 which are circular which is theusualcause of breaking at this in cross section, these glands having right 80point. Thev friction hold of the wedges hand threads 19 engaging withthe threads strengthens the threads on the pipe and preon the innerfaces of the offset portions 14 vents the threads from stripping underof the coupling 13. strain. When it is desired to unscrew the pipe 85 Afurther object is to provide means holdsections from the coupling, theglands 18 are ing these wedges in place against any longiunscrewed andthen the wedges are forced tudinal movement and provide meanswhereoutward'by means of punches or drifts 20 by when ,the holding meansis removed, thel in the manner shown in Figure 2. By turn# wedges may beforced vout from between the ing up on the glands 18, the wedges may be4 pipe and the coupling. forced inward to any extent required.

Other objects will appear in the course of It will then be seenthat withthis conthe following description. struction, the drill pipe isstrengthened at Our invention is illustrated in the accomthe root of thethreads 12, whichis where panying drawing, wherein the ordinary drillpipe commonly breaks off.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a drill pipe It will also be seen thatthe interior diameter `'joint constructed in accordance with my inof thepipe sections 10 and 11 is uniform vention; ,e throughout the entireextent of the pipe sec- Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view tionsand is not reduced by upsetting and it thereof and showing the manner inwhich a will be further noted that the, combined 1 Edrift may beinserted to drive out the wedges; thickness of the reinforcing wedgesand the coupling 13 will more than double the thickness of the metal ofthe pipe sections, thus giving ample strength to prevent breaking underthe extreme vibration to which these drill pipes are subjected.Furthermore the Wedges act to hold the pipe sections against bucklingwhich is one of the usual causes of breakage. The friction hold of theWedges 17 will strengthen the engagement of the screw-threads of thepipe and coupling with each other, prevent these screw-threads fromstripping and preventing the pipe sections from pulling out of thecoupling as in order to pull threads ofi" of the end of the pipe or outof the end of the coupling, it will be necessary to break the threads onthe screw gland and release the friction hold ofthe wedges against theoutside of the pipe.

In the construction illustrated, We have provided a pipe coupling ortool joint reinforced against vibrations or lateral strains, alsoreinforced against longitudinal strains and the stripping of thecoupling threads. We have also illustrated a friction ring of rubberdesignated 21 mounted upon one of the glands 18 and held in placebetween a shoulder on the gland and the adjacent ex` tremity of thecoupling 13. This friction ring or annular cushion 21 is retained in itsoriginal position on a joint and cannot slip except to a slight extent.This friction ring will prevent wear on the joint.

We claim 1. In a pipe coupling, two end opposed pipe sections taperedtoward each other and screw-threaded on said tapered portions, a tubularcoupling having its interior flared out from its middle to its ends, theinner end portions of said flaring portions being screw-threaded forengagement with the threads on the tapered portions of the opposed pipesections, the inner faces of the ared portions of the coupling beingplain for a distance beyond the first-named threads and then beingscrew-threaded, wedges disposed between the plain portions of thecoupling and the pipe section outward of the screw-threaded endsthereof, and exteriorly threaded glands having threaded engagement withthe outer ends of the flared portions of the coupling and bearingagainst the wedges, the coupling having drift openings in that portionof the coupling outward of the wedges whereby an instrument may beinserted to drive the wedges out or in.

In a pipe coupling, two end opposed pipe sections, a pipe couplingthreadably connecting the adjacent ends of the pipe sec-A tions near themiddle portion of the coupling, the ends of the coupling extending overthe pipe sections, the inner face of the coupling outward of saidthreaded portions being beveled toward the ends -of the coupling andsaid coupling at the outer ends beyond the beveled portion beinginternally tures.

HARVEY MECOM. LEE J. BLACK.

